


Dead Men Don't Know Your Name

by daniomalley



Series: Dead Men [2]
Category: Bandom, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Gen, Homelessness, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2013-04-06
Packaged: 2017-12-07 15:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/750023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daniomalley/pseuds/daniomalley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jon went to university to learn to use magic and meet interesting people. Zombies were not on the agenda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dead Men Don't Know Your Name

**Author's Note:**

> This is a missing scene/prequel to Dead Men Can't Look Up, and was originally posted on 7/12/11. Although it chronologically falls first, it was written second and might make more sense if read in that order - although it probably doesn't matter too much. Used to fill the Creature Attack square on my hc_bingo card.

“In the ninth century, Lord Donald Nelson determined this site as the most appropriate one for the construction of a college dedicated to study of the magical arts. At the time, there was a nearby township by the name of Erskine, but as the university flourished, the local population swelled, and the small town was quickly absorbed by the influx of people into what came to be known as the city of Nelson. The mayor of Erskine was responsible for governing the new population at first, but as the number of citizens grew, Lord Nelson and his staff assumed many of those duties. When Erskine’s mayor died from illness, no replacement was elected, and Lord Nelson continued to act as governor for the area. Before he himself passed away, he appointed a successor from the most promising of his mage graduates, and so the tradition was established whereby both the city and the University of Nelson are governed by the Chancellor.”

Jon tried to stifle a yawn as Professor Stump’s lecture continued. He already knew most of the history the professor was talking about; the lecture was mainly for the benefit of the students who had come to the university from somewhere other than Nelson. Jon’s gaze drift over to the window, and he let his mind wander.

He bolted upright in his chair when he heard a loud crash, followed by the sound of several raised voices. Around him, other students were looking in the same direction, and those closest to the door started to get up and move towards the hallway.

“Sit back down, you lot,” said Professor Stump. “I’m sure nothing’s the matter, just...” He moved to open the door of the lecture hall himself, and peered through it into the corridor. He looked out the door for a long second, then slammed it closed and stepped back, looking stunned.

By this point, it was obvious that something was really, really wrong. The shouts from outside had turned into screams, which were underscored by other, more disturbing sounds. As a group, the students stood and clustered together on the other side of the room, near the windows.

Jon could see Professor Stump standing at his lectern and trying to cast a spell. Some of the other students were talking about climbing out the windows, but if Professor Stump could make a protection spell work, they might be safer staying where they were. He approached the lectern.

Professor Stump paused for a moment in his casting when Jon got close, and he took that as permission to speak up. “What’s going on out there?” he asked.

Professor Stump just grimaced and shook his head, so Jon asked another question. “Should we try to get away from here?”

Professor Stump looked from the lectern, where he’d been working with a small amount of wine in a glass, and over to the door, where the sounds of fighting – it was definitely some sort of fight they could hear – had grown louder.

“I’m not sure how long this will last,” Professor Stump muttered as he tipped the wine out onto the floor. “I didn’t bring the right components with me... and my protection spells don’t last that long as a rule anyway. It might give us a few minutes, long enough to get away.”

Jon nodded and they went back to the window together, where Tom and another student had managed to pry it open a few inches. With encouragement, they successfully opened it all the way, and then started sending students through it, one by one.

The loud and not entirely human noises from outside had started to become background noise to Jon, but he definitely noticed it when something crashed heavily into the doors. It was repeated again a few seconds later and the students became even more frantic in their efforts to climb through the window.

The doors weren’t actually locked, and the unseen attackers figured out the doorknob before they managed to break them down. Jon watched anxiously and got his first look at them.

“What...” he murmured disbelievingly. “That’s Chancellor Dinwiddie. I thought he was... missing? Why is he moving like that?”

The Chancellor didn’t look well, and he shuffled awkwardly across the floor as though he didn’t know what his legs were for. He was followed into the room by several other men and women in wizard’s robes, who all moved the same way. Jon nearly forgot to be afraid, because they didn’t look threatening. Then he noticed the bloodied clothes, and hands, and in several cases, mouths. 

“Bad magic,” Professor Stump muttered. “Hurry up!” he barked at the last few students waiting.

There didn’t seem to be much need for urgency, though. The... things... tried to walk across the room, but something seemed to be holding them back. The protection spell, Jon figured, relieved that it was working. The creatures didn’t stop, though, and they slowly made their way across the room. Jon could tell that the protection spell was starting to fail.

Only Professor Stump and Tom were left, and Tom shook Jon’s arm. “You next,” he said, adding, “Don’t waste time!” when Jon started to protest.

Jon threw himself through the window as fast as he could, taking no caution in how he landed. He sprang back to his feet and reached up to pull Professor Stump through. He understood then why Tom had been determined to go last; both he and Professor Stump were too short to lift themselves through the window without someone pushing them from behind. Then Tom was coming through, and Jon grabbed his arms, but the creatures were right there. Tom’s legs slid across the window frame, and one of the things grabbed his foot. Tom squealed and kicked out, and he came the rest of the way through in a rush, falling to the ground and taking Jon with him.

The creatures still inside were trying to follow them through the window, but Jon could see it would take some time. He was more worried about the other group which suddenly appeared from around the corner of the building.

Professor Stump was already running. Tom got to his feet and followed, and Jon went after him. The creatures were easy to outrun, but there was another group of them around the next corner, and around the next. Jon dodged, but knew that he couldn’t keep running forever.

He passed a broken window, and spent a precious moment to stoop down and grab one of the shards of glass. Mirrors were better for this, but there were none handy. He concentrated, and felt the odd sensation of seeing his hands disappear before his eyes, as they became as transparent as the glass he held.

That wasn’t enough. He could make his body invisible, but not his clothing, so with his free hand, he tried to pull his shirt off, doing his best to suppress the embarrassment he felt at running down the street half naked.

He had enough of a lead to stop for a few seconds and kick off his shoes and pants, and then he was, more or less, safe. The creatures didn’t notice him. No one noticed him. It was strange, walking through the city in broad daylight with not a stitch of clothing on. In this part of the city, no one seemed aware of what was happening just a little distance away, and Jon wanted to warn them, but he was stumped for a way to do it.

He walked a few blocks further and started to feel the cold. He began looking for something to cover himself with, because he knew from experience that staying invisible for too long could knock him flat for days. 

Jon passed a store selling fabrics and clothing. He ducked inside and slipped behind a shelf where he grabbed the first pair of trousers that looked as though they might fit. He dragged them on and dropped the invisibility spell, checking carefully first to make sure no one was watching. He found a shirt and pulled that on too, and was wondering how to sneak out the door again when the store keeper was distracted by an uproar coming from down the street.

It was definitely time to go, Jon thought, but he had to offer some sort of warning first, so he said to the store keeper, “Trouble’s coming, you’d better lock up and hide.”

The store keeper just looked confused at this, and then focused more closely on Jon’s shirt, saying, “Hey, wait a minute...”

Jon didn’t stay around to hear the rest, and if the store keeper tried to pursue him he was lost in the sudden commotion taking place in the street. The creatures had definitely caught up, but they were way down the other end of the street, so Jon turned and hurried in the opposite direction, trying to warn everyone he passed of what was going on. It was difficult, since he didn’t exactly know himself what was going on, and people didn’t really respond to the vague details he was able to give. Jon felt selfish, for running away and leaving people to their own devices, but there was nothing he could do. He didn’t have a weapon, and he hadn’t learned any spells yet except for the invisibility he’d always been able to do.

Jon ran a few blocks, and came to an abrupt halt outside a small restaurant. He had seen someone that he knew.

On weekends, when Jon left the university grounds to hang out in the city, go listen to music and drink too much alcohol, sometimes he ran into Spencer. They seemed to like the same sorts of things, and tended to go to the same places. He’d been willing to let all those strangers go past with nothing more than a few brief words of warning, but he wanted to make sure Spencer wasn’t hurt.

He crossed the street in a rush and skidded to a stop in front of Spencer, who looked up, startled, from where he’d been studying the remains of a meal left on one of the outside tables.

“Jon?” he said, a faint blush colouring his cheeks. He frowned and tilted his head. “What’s all that noise?”

Jon grabbed Spencer’s arm in a firm grip. “We need to go this way. Quickly.”

“What?” Spencer didn’t fight Jon’s grasp, but he certainly didn’t follow Jon’s lead, either. “What’s going on?”

“It’s...” Jon looked for the words, failed to find them, and waved a hand in the air helplessly. “Not safe,” he finished weakly.

Spencer looked sceptical, but the sounds from a street or two away were definitely mostly screams now. Screams and cries for help. Spencer pulled towards the noise, but Jon wouldn’t let go.

“Should we help...?”

“No,” said Jon. “Seriously. No. Trust me.”

Spencer didn’t look pleased, but he finally gave in and let Jon hustle him the other way up the street.

“We need to go somewhere we can hide,” Jon muttered. “Where can we hide?”

“What’s happening back there?” Spencer asked again.

“It’s...” Jon struggled again to put words to what had happened. “It’s, it’s the Chancellor, and some of the other senior university faculty. And some other people.”

“Are they fighting?” Spencer asked dubiously.

“They’ve... they’ve gone mad. They’re attacking people. Everyone. They’re attacking everyone.”

“With magic?”

“No, not... “ Jon pushed away the memory of what he’d seen at the university. “Not with magic. Just...” He trailed off, and Spencer seemed to sense his discomfort, or at least refrained from asking more questions.

At some point, Jon wasn’t sure when exactly, Spencer took the lead and they wound up in a part of Nelson Jon had never been to before. It was a poor area, full of cramped tenements and stores selling cheap goods. Spencer led them through that and into an area which was even more derelict; where the buildings hadn’t seen fresh paint in years, the windows were boarded up, and the streets were filthy.

Spencer pushed open a door that Jon hadn’t even noticed. It led to a stairwell, and Spencer started climbing. Jon followed, asking after four flights how far up they were going. Spencer didn’t answer.

After seven floors, the stairwell ended, and Spencer led the way down a hallway and into an apartment at the very end. It was dark inside. There were two windows in the opposite wall, but they were small and dirty. Another boy was sitting in front of them, looking down at the street below. Jon peered at him, trying to figure out who it was, but before he could someone else walked over from the corner of the room and said, “Spencer, what the hell?”

The kid by the window stood and walked towards them, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with the one who had just spoken. Jon did recognise them, now that they were closer. He saw them sometimes, out with Spencer, but he’d never spoken to them before.

“Something’s gone wrong, down in the city,” Spencer said. “We came to warn you.”

Jon hadn’t come with the intention of warning Spencer’s friends, he hadn’t even known they were here, but he’d go along with it. He was busy, anyway, looking around the room and putting things together. The room was empty of furniture. Mostly empty. There was a straw mattress in one corner, with blankets heaped on it. There were a few crates arranged in the middle of the room, with a lamp sitting on the biggest one. The fireplace was full of ash, with a small stack of firewood next to it, and on the other side a few pots were clustered together. This was where Spencer and his friends lived. 

Jon looked back at Spencer, who had moved around to stand next to his friends and was pinning Jon with a glare which prompted him to clamp his mouth shut.

“What’s going on?” asked Spencer’s friend, the one Jon had started thinking of as the pretty one.

Jon swallowed and started to talk, again, about what had happened, from when he was sitting in class feeling bored to running from his life from the university chancellor who had gone mad. Spencer and his friends didn’t interrupt, except at one point to say “You can turn invisible?” and later on, to ask, “Are you alright?”

The question stopped Jon short, and he became aware that his hands were shaking and his eyes burned. “I don’t know what happened to everyone else,” he said. “My friend Tom, and Professor Stump, and the rest of the class. I lost track of them while we were running, I don’t know if they got away.”

Spencer put his hand on Jon’s shoulder, and Jon leaned into the touch, ducking his head when the terror of the day caught up with him. He felt Spencer’s arms wrap around him, and Spencer’s friends gathered close as well, patting his shoulder and saying meaningless reassuring things. He still didn’t know their names.

“You’ll be alright now,” said the one in spectacles. “We look out for one another. Whatever happens, we’ll take care of each other.”

Jon tried to take comfort from that, tried to get himself to calm down, but what had happened was too huge, too terrible. “We don’t know, we... we might not be safe here, we might not be safe anywhere. I don’t know what’s going on!”

They stayed with him, though, and waited until he’d stopped shaking, and by then Jon was starting to think the four of them might be okay.


End file.
